The Patient's Perspective
AG is a 31-year-old female law student who lives in Georgetown and has a longstanding history of migraine with a prominent menstrual component. Asked to describe her experience with migraine and with Nurtec, she responded:
I began having migraine headaches when I was 12, and from the start, they’ve been linked to my menstrual cycle. I often have headaches, even really severe headaches, on other days of the month, but during my menstrual week I can count on a headache, and it almost always lasts for at least 3 days. Sometimes I can stop a headache with Excedrin or even just a cup of coffee if I catch it early enough, but once the headache really gets going I need prescription medicine to get it to stop. I tried several oral triptans and one that comes in a nasal spray as well. All of them worked, but they made me feel so weird or sleepy that I would have to wait until I got home to treat myself. Even when the triptan worked, a lot of times the headache would come back full-force a few hours later. With my menstrual migraines the headache always returned. Many times I took all 9 tablets of the triptan prescription during the week of my period and had none left for the rest of the month.
In April my doctor prescribed Nurtec, and over the next month, I tried it four times. I was able to use it even when I was in class or at the library. Once it seemed to make me a little queasy, but aside from that, I had absolutely no problem with the medicine. And it worked! Not only did it take my headache away, but it kept it away. By 30 minutes I had little or no pain, and for days afterward, I had no headache at all. Because they are so stubborn and hard to get rid of, I was curious to see how Nurtec would work for my menstrual headaches. It worked great! On the first day of my period in April I began to feel a headache building just like always. I took a Nurtec tablet, the headache went away, and it never came back.
Now I can treat my headaches when and where I want and count on fast relief without a lot of side effects. I no longer dread my menstrual week. Nurtec has made a huge difference for me.